Flapping wing flier for individual flying



Sept. 23, 1952 M. MACKIEWICZ FLAPFING WING FLIER FOR INDIVIDUAL FLYINGFiled June 10, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l IN VEN TOR.

FLAPPING WING FLIER FOR INDIVIDUAL FLYING Filed June 10, 1950 M.MACKIEWICZ Sept. 23, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Sept. 23, 1952FLAPPENG."VilING-FLIERFGRqNDIVIDtIAL' J FLYING:

Maria Macki'ewicz, Nevv-YoIlZ NLYiI.

ApplicationJune-lfl, 1950',' Seria; l N '0.- 167,353

Claims. 1.

Thisinvention relates to. an improved flying device or. machine,andiembraces the. combination or a-.bag. or. balloon. filled with. a.buoyant gas, such as helium,.andl manually operated wings supported by.the buoyant. gasv bag, which. can

be manipulatedito.controltlievertical position.

of the person using the deviceor machineufor aerial flight, and. to 1produce horizontal. travel motion through theair.

One of the objects of. the. invention is the. provisionof'a safetyflying. device, whichcanbe used for. transferringapassenger fromanaeroplane"to the ground", or. for aerial. flight fr high. altitudesto.lower altitudes, by. the manual.

operation of wings strappedito. the body, and connected with. the wristsof thepassenger, so that flapping. motions may be generated, simulating.the natural 'fiight movements of a bird, whilethe'main loadfof the bodyofthe passenger is supported by a buoyant bag filled. with non-.-explosive helium gas, so thatmaximum directional effect will beob'tainedifr'om the manual operation of the flappingwings.

Another object of 'the invention isto. provide.

a' flying. device with wings which are buoyant, andfwhich" can be filledfrom a central valve control, but which are constructed to providebuoyant radial ribs.

With the aboveand. other objectsinlview thev invention'compri-sescertain new and useful constructions, combinations,- and arrangements ofparts; clearly described'in the following specification, andfullyillustratedinthe drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view, showing-the manner of strapping apassenger to the wings and the buoyant'ga'sba'g.

Fig. 21s a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is abottom plan view before the: passenger'is'strapped intoflightpositien.

Fig. 4is a front 'end'elevationthereof.

Fig. 5 is'a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the buoyant gasbag and one of the buoyant. wings, showing the body holding strapsthereof, taken on lined-5 of Fig.2 3, enlarged.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional-:view through one of the buoyant wings,taken on line:i5- 6; of

Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 7 is a plan view ofa pattern used for the construction of the wing, before the pattern hasbeen gathered to provide gas holding compart ments or chambers.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary edge view of one of the wings.

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view, showing a (c1. zc i zs) 2v concealedstrap; and: thereto:

Referrin to; the: accompanying drawings,

which; illustrate1the practical construction of. the;

invention, I01": designates a .gas bag for holding.

helium. gas; .which. has; an; envelope; constructedofi-gastightzrubberized fabriconsimilan material, 7

and" which mayybezoff. any desiredishape orxform,

but of a capacity to carry theiloa'diof;.theLaaIerage" passenger, or.nearly. so, when; properly "inflated with helium gas.

The lower; end: oi this .gas;;.bag.- is closed, and gas; is supplied: tothe bag, and; releasedfrom.

thdbag-through. one :orimore' control valves; l I,

one ors-more of. which may be; equippe'dczwith a:

release? pull cordi I 2, ..to;.permit 10f distant: opera;- tion, so.that.the-;buoyancyc of. the gas-bag; may be:'- regulated: by thepassenger during: flight. orbeforeflight, or aftenfiight.

At one side of the bottompf:thebuoyanttgas bag. [0' aswing; l3-is-attached: tothe' lower edge ofv a-fiapv |3 and:-.the;upper edge ofsaid: flap I3 istconnected. byazflexible hinge-joint M to.

saiclbag v l0. by; a; flexiblehinge joint It. Atzthe opposite side ofthe bottom of the gas bag. another? and similar-wing.- [:5 -is..attachedby afiexible joint" l6:-a'fiap:. f5: and a;.fiexible. joint I5Sincereach' wing-.is constructedliirr duplication of the other, one;only: neecitbe: describedin detail.

Each wing is formediso. that it: will. have a triangular. shape;whensviewed: edge wise from the front orrear: end: off the. device;.with the wider end of the triangular shaped" wing: lo? cated outermostEachwing comprises anupper layer. of. rubberized sheet: material I7, anda lower: layer orsimilar. material It} each layerhaving the initialshape shoWninithepattern 20,-.of- Fig; 7. The :outer. edges of thetwo'layers I l and [9 are united. by; bondingortvulcanization toctheedgestrip or wall piece; 21; so as to providera hollow-wingFstructureThis. hollow wing structure is then subjectedto.pressureiand bond ing;operations alongradial lines 23: (Fig; 1) to divide. each; hollow wing.into hollow radial ribs 2 2-. connected at-their openiouterxen'ds to acommonchamber'Z'I-a (Fig. 5); and. attheir inner open ends to a commonchamber 23a (Fig; 5-) provided with g a.- control valve 2 3', suitablymounted in the lower layer E9 of the wings. Through each valve 24 heliumor other buoyant gas may be supplied to the interior of thecorresp'mding wing, or may be discharged as desire I Each flap isprovided at its lower hinge joint with a strap 25, which is attachedthereto in any body straps connected suitable manner. To this strap thebody holding straps are positively connected, as by vulcanization.

The body holding straps of each flap include a strap 26 for use throughthe arm pit over the shoulder, a strap section 21 for use to hold thechest of the passenger, strap 28 for the thigh, a strap 29 for the kneeand strap 30 for the ankle. The strap section 2'! at the two flapscooperate to hold the chest of the passenger in proper position.

Each wing is further provided with a plurality of operating cords 3!, ofnylon, linen, cotton or other material, which are connected at theirouter ends to grommets 32, secured in any suitable manner to thesemi-circular tip of the wing, and which converge radially to a slipring 33, through which all of the operating cords extend. This slip ringis provided with a single pull cord 34, formed into a, loop 35, andprovided with a slip ring for regulating'the size of the loop. This loopis placed around the wrist of the arm and the slip ring is tightened, sothat proper coupling between the arm and the pull cord 36 isestablished. The radial cords 3i perform the function of shroud lines ofa parachute, and distribute the pulling efiort imposed manually by thesingle operating cord 3 equally over the tip of the wing.

The passenger is supported by said straps 25, 2'! and 28 between theinner edges of the two wings, below the bottom of the buoyant gas bag.The lifting force of the buoyant gas bag and of the two wings, which arealso buoyant, may

be suficient to support the passenger Without the lifting effortgenerated by the manual flapping of the wings, or regulated so that thecombined lifting effort of the wings when properly manipulated and thegas bag will be required to prevent gravitational descent.

The gas bag may be inflated so that it will produce a rising motion ofthe device and its passenger at the time of the take-off, or regulatedso that a slow descent from a high elevation may be made.

It is possible for the passenger to control the direction of descent orof horizontal flight, by manipulating or flapping one wing, whileholding the other wing motionless, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig.2. In this case the manipulated wing will function as the propeller andthe stationary wing will act as the rudder of the flying device.

As the wings are buoyant they may be operated by the passenger toproduce a bird-like flapping motion, up and down, with minimum ofphysical exertion.

My invention can be used in place of conventional escape parachutes, totransfer passengers from disabled aeroplanes to safe ground position, orfrom high mountain elevations to safety below, or for sport flying.

It is understood that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction, their combination and construction, arrangement of parts,set forth in the claims hereof, which deflne the invention.

Having described my invention I claim as new:

1. A flying device, comprising a gas bag having a passenger liftingeffect, a pair of wings each having a straight inner edge and a curvedouter edge, means for connecting said Wings, to the bottom of the gasbag including hinges at the inner edges of said wings, straps forsecuring the body of a passenger to the connection between the wings andthe gas bag, radial operating cords connected with the outer edges ofthewings, and means for connecting the arms of the passenger to the radialoperating cords to enable the passenger to shift said wings.

2. A flying device, comprising a gas fllled bag having a passengerlifting effect, a pair of wings with curved outer edges and filled withbuoyant gas, including hinges at the inner edges of said wings, meansfor strapping a passenger to the connection between the wings and thegas bag, and pull cords connected with the outer edge of each wing andhaving means connectable to a wrist of the passenger, to enable thepassenger to produce a swinging movement of the Wings.

3. A flying device, comprising a gas filled bag having a passengerlifting eifect, a pair of buoyant-gas-fllled wings having flexible hingeconnection with the lower end of the gas bag, including hinge means atthe inner edges of said Wing's, each of said wings having radial hollowribs and a connecting chamber at their inner ends, said chamber having avalve for use in inflating or deflating the wing, body straps attachedto the connections between each wing and the gas bag, said body strapsincluding an arm pit strap, a chest strap, a thigh strap, a knee strapand an ankle strap, a plurality of radial pull cords attached at theirouter ends to the outer edges of said wings, and a single pull cordconnected with all before mentioned cords on each Wing, whereby apassenger coupled by means of said body straps to the gas bag canproduce motion of either or both wings.

4. A flying device according to claim 1 wherein said means forconnecting said wings to the bottom of said bag includes flaps eachconnected at one edge to said hinge at the inner edge of thecorresponding wing and at the opposite edge to said bag.

5. A flying device according to claim 2 wherein each wing comprisesradial triangular chambers of greater thickness at their outer ends.

MARIA MACKIEWICZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 398,984 'Spalding Mar. 5, 18891,137,212 Jelalian Apr. 27, 1915 1,765,075 Johnson June 17, 1930 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 15,798 Great Britain of 1904 25,518 GreatBritain of 1907 27,133 Austria of 1907

